DBAHO

You just have to remember with BA, his defensive ability is that highly thought of, if he was able to give you an OPS of around .775-.800, that would make him a very valuable player, in the Mike Cameron sort of mould. But of course to do that, he'd have to hit about 20HR's over a full course of a season and hit around .260, and I'm not sure he can do that.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jun 23, 2008 -> 01:51 PM) I think also that Campbell will end up with the Rags... IIRC he said something about wanting to return to the Northeast....for whatever reason. I also don't buy it yet that the Hawks are going to spend a lot of money on FA's....its still the Hawks. Hopefully they will prove me wrong but I am not holding out hope. I'm just wondering how much cap space do the Rangers have ATM? They may have to let Jagr go if they signed Campbell, because I remember they gave big contracts to Chris Drury and Scotty Gomez last off-season.

I actually would rather Campbell than Hossa, and most people are going to think I'm crazy for that. But IMHO, the 1 thing this team lacks to take them to the next level, is a top tier puck moving offensive d-man. And I mean Keith and Seabrook are both very solid defenseman, but can you consider either guy to be a true #1? Getting Campbell would improve our PP for sure. But I wouldn't go over $8M a season for him. He's very good, and could get you 60 points a season, but I don't think he's a $9M type of guy. But one thing that you also have to consider with Hossa, what type of impact does he have on Marty Havlat? Put those 2 on a line with say Robert Lang down the middle (Kane - Toews and someone else on the top line possibly), and that would be a very strong #2 line. But for once, it is nice to be linked majorly with the top 2 guys in free agency. It shows that ownership and management want to win a Stanley Cup, and they are going to bring in the right talent to do so.

Yeah I heard a rumor that Campbell wanted to return to the Northeast, and the Rangers would fit the bill.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Jun 23, 2008 -> 11:05 AM) bottom line is unless this team can find some form of consistency they aren't going anywhere. even if they somehow survive the regular season you cant win 5 in a row and then lose 4 in a row in the playoffs if you want to win the world series. But then the Sox could get hot at the right time just like they did back in 2005. So we'll just have to wait and see.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 23, 2008 -> 11:35 AM) Interleague or not, the Sox and Cubs are rivals. And this is amplified by the whole "Second Team in the Second City" label. I'm sure that the news media outlets in Chicago are going ga-ga over the Cubs and crapping on the Sox right now. That should piss them off. If the Sox don't enter this weekend's series with a chip on their shoulder and play their asses off, I doubt they'll be playing in October. It's still only 1 series though. We could easily get swept by the Cubs and still end up winning our division. We just need to get the consistency back with our pitching.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jun 22, 2008 -> 09:32 PM) Ellsbury? Just because a player doesn't make web gems every night doesn't mean he's not in the category of the CFer's who do. Unfortunately I don't have a BP subscription, so I can't show you truly how good he is out there. But it's funny that you mentioned Rowand. The sheer fact that you put him on the list tells me you haven't seen enough of BA out in the field, or you just simply don't know what you're looking at. Rowand, although a good defensive center fielder, is not in Brian Anderson's league. Anderson's RZR IIRC in 2006 when he was starting was above .900. Not sure what it is this season, but that number above is elite no doubt. He'd be in the top half dozen for mine, defensive wise. Unfortunately, his swing seems to have deserted him over the past couple of weeks, and he needs to get it back ASAP.

Decent outing for McCullough also last night, despite the H's given up. As for Gartrell, he needs a strong second half to be up with Charlotte next season no doubt, but the opportunity is there for him. Nice to see Richar get into a groove with the bat now also. Unless Uribe gets traded, I don't think we'll see him up anytime soon though (unless Alexei goes in a real big slump).

Just booked my flights / hotel also now as well. Look forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks.

Keep the faith guys, it's only early. Hopefully Javy can settle down from here.

So what does everyone think of Viva La Vida so far?

Well I puked up a storm in a taxi and train ride home apparently last night. Too many Vodka's and Cranberries I think.

Very happy Italy are out, don't deserve to win major tournaments when you play a style like that. And if Russia play as they did yesterday, they can beat Spain. Needs to be an open, flee flowing game though, and they HAVE to improve their set piece defending.

Guus Hiddink does it again. Arshavin's going to be in demand big time after that performance. Arsenal are chasing him apparently. Now will Spain choke in a major tournament again?

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 02:27 PM) Just fire Ozzie now, this is absolutely inexcusable. Just a little over dramatic don't ya think?

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 21, 2008 -> 11:15 AM) The last two minutes + PKs of Croatia-Turkey was the best stretch of soccer I've ever seen. Especially when u hav Turkey in a sweep. Gotta feel sorry for Croatia though.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 20, 2008 -> 03:59 PM) Also, does Linebrink have some clause in his contract where he can only pitch 1 inning at a time? You think if we sign a SU guy for practically 20 million over 4 years that he'd be able to pitching 2 innings. I felt strongly that Linebrink should have been the 7th inning guy. I like Dotel and all, but he has shown he can't be trusted late in close ball games, IMO. He's way too streaky. Who's going to pitch the 8th then?

And Ovechkin makes $9.5M a season right? Be hard to turn that down, but he's not going to be playing with Sidney Crosby's over in Russia either. My guess is he'll stay for sure.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 20, 2008 -> 11:22 AM) If the Hawks can get Jok for the right deal, it'd be fantastic. Jok is one hell of a hockey player and would be the other top end forward we need to get to the next level. And yeah, Tony's right, if that happens, Lang would be flipped somewhere. The return probably wouldn't be very good, but that's not a big deal. But he is a guy a team would take because his contract status isn't bad. Florida doesn't have a 1st round pick also. The 11th plus say Kontiola I'd be dangling right now, I'd still like to hang onto Skille for the moment. But getting Jok would push this team into a bonafide playoff team next season, especially if then the Hawks could dump Lang and sign Brian Campbell, that would be nuts. Jokinen and Toews would argubly be a top 5 1-2 center punch down the middle, and to think for years and years one of the main problems of this team was that they didn't have a bonafide #1 center. But do the Hawks do that? Apparently Calgary wants to move up and maybe dangling Alex Tanguay? Edmonton also. Or do the Hawks just stay at 11 and pick up Beach or one of the good defensive prospects on the board? Going to be an interesting night.

Rumors that Jokinen could be dealt to the Wild, the Sedin Twins are available, and Marleau's still on the block, depending on what happens with Brian Campbell. Jokinen and Toews as a 1-2 punch down the middle would be very tempting, but then you'd have to use Robert Lang as a #3 center, and that's not his role. If you could trade Lang for a draft pick (say a 2nd rounder), and then trade the 1st for either Marleau or Jokinen, I would look into that possibly.

I still think Richar could become a .800 OPS guy in the future though at 2B. The Sox need to decide whether or not they can go through some more lumps with him if they make him a starter from 2009 onwards. Durham I don't know if you can depend on him much in the upcoming years, while Roberts is going to cost quite a bit. The best cost effective solution may be in the organization still.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 05:05 PM) And Crede and his .260 career average and .309 obp isn't an all or nothing guy? Joe struggled early in his career, but when he's been healthy out of the last 3-4 seasons, his numbers would be better than that. That's why I don't look at career averages for him.

Friday is upon us and that means plenty of drinking tonight. First off is a trip to Hooters for happy hour beers, and then a night in Brooklyn.

Get those brooms out. Very important series coming up, so let's keep the momentum going. Hopefully we can keep this hot streak with the bats going for another series at least.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 03:58 PM) Even if they draft Rose, I could still see the Bulls holding on to Hinrich as a "Tweener" guard who can guard guys bigger than him and play the SG slot alongside rose sometimes. But in that case, they'd have to move Gordon, and maybe Hughes/Thabo also. Whatever, the Bulls needed to trade a SG before they got the #1 pick and they still do. Out of those guys mentioned, I think 1 of Gordon or Hinrich certainly has to go. If the Magic end up signing Maggette with the MLE, I could see the Clippers go after Gordon if they don't draft Eric Gordon. Memphis is a big possibility for Gordon also, especially after Navarro decided to go back to Spain. It's just that Hinrich's stock would be low ATM, but can the Bulls justify paying that much to a tweener combo guard off the bench (because I don't think Larry Hughes would take coming off the bench too well). And if Del Negro is a defense first guy, Thabo should stick around for sure.